One of the most underrated epics of all time, the 1962 version of "Mutiny on the Bounty" was reviewed largely on the basis of its troubled production history and massive budget over-runs. Star Marlon Brando took much of the blame, though he always denied that had been the cause of the financial debacle that ensued at MGM when the studio suffered massive losses after the film's release. As with another major money-loser of the era, "Cleopatra", many people dismiss this remake of the original 1935 version of "Mutiny on the Bounty" as some kind of artistic debacle. In fact many retro movie buffs regard it as superior to the first version. If one can judge the film on its own merits, not its financial legacy, they will find Brando and co-star giving brilliant performances as Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh. An inspired supporting cast, stunning production values and a great musical score all contribute to making this one of the great epic films of its day. This original trailer gives you a sample. - Lee Pfeiffer
CLICK HERE TO ORDER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FROM AMAZON THAT INCLUDES RARE PROLOGUE AND EPILOGUE THAT WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE FILM'S ORIGINAL RELEASE.
There was a time in American politics when people could disagree without detesting each other. Epitomizing a prime example of inter-American detente in the 1960s was the relationship between arch conservative John Wayne and arch liberal Kirk Douglas. The two men disagreed on almost every major political issue. Wayne had backed the McCarthy era blacklist and Douglas was notable in helping end it a decade later. When the two iconic actors agreed to co-star in Otto Preminger's 1965 WWII epic "In Harm's Way", there were predictions of fireworks on the set as both Wayne and Douglas could display volatile tempers. Instead Duke and Douglas got along personally like a house on fire. Wayne's Batjac Productions even backed Douglas' 1966 big budget production of "Cast a Giant Shadow" about the founding of Israel. The two men teamed for the third (and regrettably final) time in 1967 for "The War Wagon", a marvelously witty and highly entertaining Western that showcased both actors at their best. Enjoy this original theatrical trailer.
Both John Wayne and Lee Marvin vied for Elizabeth Allen's attentions in John Ford's 1963 comedy "Donovan's Reef".
Elizabeth Allen never became a super star but the lovely and talented actress graced both movie and TV screens with her fine performances. She also appeared in some acclaimed stage productions as well. Among Elizabeth's film credits are "Donovan's Reef", "Diamond Head", "Cheyenne Autumn" and "The Carey Treatment".
Her TV work included "Bracken's World", "Another World", "Guiding Light", "CPO Sharkey", "The Fugitive" and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Ms. Allen passed away in 2006 at age 77. Writer Scott Rollins presents an in-depth tribute to her on his blog. Click here to read.
Jim Sherlock, one of Australia's most respected film historians, provided us with this sampling of what was showing in Oz on one day in 1966. Sort of boggles the mind, doesn't it? Steve McQueen in Nevada Smith, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. feature film One of Our Spies is Missing, Julie Christie in Darling, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni in Marriage Italian Style and Doris Day and Rod Taylor in The Glass Bottom Boat (note that in Australia it had the more provocative title The Spy in the Lace Panties!). Those really were the days....
Alfred Hitchcock loathed having to abide by the Puritanical "Hayes Code" that, in effect, acted as a de facto censorship board for American films. Hitch devised numerous clever ways to introduce adult sexual situations into his films in a manner that made it difficult, if not impossible, for the prudes to order scenes trimmed or deleted. Hitch lost a few battles (ironically one them based on a non-sex scene involving the flushing of a toilet!) but generally managed to get one over on the would-be censors. Click here for an article from The Richest web site that examines some his tactics for including sex in his movies (although the article fails to examine "Marnie", perhaps the most sexually driven of all Hitchcock's films.)
It's hard to believe that even in the contentious late 1960s, politics were probably more civil than they are today. If you want proof, check out this 1967 sit-down from TV in which uber-liberal Woody Allen chats with William F. Buckley Jr. , the father of the modern conservative movement in America. It's interesting to hear the names of prominent people who were grist for the mill of satire during this period: President Johnson, presidential aspirant Bobby Kennedy, President Charles De Gaulle all come in for some pointed barbs. Allen, who had not yet entered a period in his life in which he all but withdrew from public appearances, is extremely witty but Buckley holds his own against the comedy legend-in-the-making. The segment recalls a time in which people could disagree without being disagreeable. If only our politicians could make the same claim today.
Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous and incomprehensible, the final words of legendary actors and actresses provide some fascinating and thought-provoking moments. Among those cited here: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Laurence Olivier, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Rock Hudson, Marilyn Monroe and Groucho Marx. Click here to read.
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FEATURES FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
Don't you miss those wonderful old comic book tie-ins to major motion pictures? We unearthed this one in the seemingly bottomless vaults of the Cinema Retro archive. It was a tie in from Dell Comics for director John Sturges' 1965, big budget misfire The Hallelujah Trail that managed to squander the talents of Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton and many other popular actors. However, we still have a soft spot for the comic book, which is far more entertaining than the padded, seemingly endless film upon which it is based!
The following press release was published in May, 1964
"Frank Sinatra will star in Von Ryan's Express at 20th Century Fox. Based on David Westheimer's bestseller about mass escapes from Italian prison camps during WWII, the drama will be produced by Saul David with Mark Robson directing. It is scheduled to start in mid-summer with possible location in Italy."
(Note: the press release was inaccurate in the sense that the film did not deal with massive "escapes" from multiple prison camps. Rather, it dealt with only one escape from one camp. However we suppose it's a bit too late to demand that the press writer be fired.)
Burt Lancaster and Susan Clark in Valdez is Coming - a film shot and released in 1971 after postponements for Lancaster to star in Airport.
The following news items were in The Hollywood Reporter on November 4, 1968:
Cloris Leachman and Henry Jones have been cast in 20th Century Fox's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Neal Hefti has been signed by Howard W. Koch to to arrange and conduct Paramount's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
You can call Elizabeth Taylor "Myra" for sure unless an unexpected snag develops in the current agreeable negotiations we're not supposed to know anything about...Elizabeth is now Dick Zanuck's number one choice to prove she can play both sexes as his Myra Breckenridge and she is in verbal agreement- no doubt for her usual million bucks plus a piece of the action. (Cinema Retro notes that Raquel Welch ended up playing Myra in the distastrous screen version of the bestseller. Film critic Rex Reed played Myra in her male persona)
In order to allow Burt Lancaster to star in Ross Hunter's Airport at Universal, producer Ira Steiner postoned start of United Artists' Valdez is Coming. Lancaster checks in with writer-director George Seaton on Airport as soon as he winds MGM's The Gypsy Moths.
Now that Dean Martin and Burt Lancaster have been signed for Airport, scribbled on Ross Hunter's memo pad are Natalie Wood, Patricia Neal and Helen Hayes. (Cinema Retro notes that only Hayes was in the film.)
Sammy Davis and Peter Lawford won't be going back to London for their Salt and Pepper sequel. Las Vegas will be the place. (Cinema Retro notes that the sequel, One More Time, directed by Jerry Lewis, was indeed filmed in England.)
Carlo Ponti's Zabriskie Point issued a call for 3000 extras in Las Vegas last week and you should have seen the line that formed! Hear they'll be shooting in Death Valley.
Issue #29 of Cinema Retro commemorated the locations seen in The Great Escape.
Cinema Retro contributor Don Whistance has an amazing blog for anyone who is a fan of the classic 1963 WWII film "The Great Escape". His site painstakingly details the German shooting locations of the film and provides then and now photos as well as a wealth of information and interviews about the film. Click here to check it out.
For those of us who lived through the era when AIDS first reared its head with devastating impact on the world, it's hard to believe that 30 years has transpired since Rock Hudson became the first celebrity casualty of the disease. In those days, ignorance about AIDS brought about panic and prejudices. Hudson, however, was a beloved and iconic screen legend and his death went a long way to humanizing victims of AIDS. If this beloved idol of millions could fall victim to this scourge, then perhaps it wasn't just people thought to engage in deviant lifestyles and behaviors. Rock Hudson never wanted to be the face of the Gay Rights Movement. He became a star during an era in which even the hint of being homosexual would have been the death knell on his career. However, one would like to think that his untimely death at age 59 resulted in progress toward a more compassionate view regarding AIDS and HIV victims. For more on Hudson's death click here.
You may think that the American drive-in movie theater has gone the way of the do-do bird and The Knack. However, there are still a surprising number of drive-ins operating, primarily in rural area where the price of real estate isn't so prohibitively expensive. One of the drive-ins of interest to Cinema Retro readers is the Mahoning Drive-in located in Leighton, PA, not too far from the New Jersey border. What makes the theater unique is the owner's quest to concentrate solely on classic and cult films shown in 35mm. You can forget seeing the latest Adam Sandler flick here. This is for lovers of old sci-fi and horror films. The theater has been working with Exhumed Films to continually find sources for good 35mm prints in order to keep retro film festivals alive. For more on the theater and its history, click here.
(If you know of a theater that specializes in retro-based film programming, you can send the details to: cinemaretro@hotmail.com. Please ensure that there is a current web page the article can link to.)
Classic movie posters, once regarded as the domain of eccentric collectors, are finally being taken seriously in financial circles because of their often staggering rate of return on investment. In an article for Bloomberg News, it's pointed out that some of the rarer posters appreciate at a far greater pace than many conventional investments. The irony, of course, is that for decades such posters were routinely tossed out after a movie was exhibited. Most had to be returned to National Screen Service, the company that leased the promotional materials to theaters. After a period of years, NSS destroyed older posters, photos and lobby cards, which were never officially available for sale to the public. However, die hard collectors found niche shops that catered to their needs. In the beginning, collectors wanted the posters because of their artistic merit but over the decades, they came to be regarded as a solid financial investment. Click here for more.
We've all seen Halloween, Friday the
13th, and Hellraiser. But for true horror aficionados, much of the
charm of the genre lies in low budget, low production value, and extreme,
outrageous effects and plots. Read on to learn more about five of the forgotten
horror films of
the 80’s that, while an exercise in bad taste, will provide the horror fan with
a truly enjoyable viewing experience.
Pumpkinhead
While poorly received upon its 1988 debut, Pumpkinhead has
built up a cult following in the years since its release. The movie tells of a
small rural town besieged by an ancient, gigantic monster (the titular
character), who is called into being by a father who wants to exact revenge on
the teenagers who have injured his young son in a dirt biking accident. The
film, which starred genre favorite Lance
Henriksen as the vengeful patriarch, spawned one direct to video sequel and
two made-for-television films.
Happy Birthday to Me
The Canadian production stars Little House on the
Prairie darling Melissa Sue Anderson as Ginny, the leader of an elite high
school clique whose members meet unfortunate ends. This 1981 slasher flick is
best remembered—when it's remembered at all—for the bizarre methods by which
the teens are murdered (including death
by shish kabob and death by weight lifting). These elements, in addition to
the twist ending, set it apart from the rest of the early 80’s slasher pack.
C.H.U.D.
This 1984 comedy horror is about a race of humanoid
mutants (CHUDs, or Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers), who live in
the subway tunnels beneath New York City. When the government cracks down on
transients who live in the transit system, the CHUDs begin coming up onto the
streets to feed. Starring John Heard and Daniel Stern, the movie is
quintessential midnight viewing and one of the best horror films set in the Big
Apple. C.H.U.D. was so popular upon its release, it developed a cult following
and can still be seen on the El Rey
Network, which DirecTV and Dish
Network customers have access to.
Alligator
Another creature feature set in the urban underground,
1980's Alligator is about a giant reptile who is killing humans in the sewer
system of Chicago. The movie is based on the urban legend about a child who
flushed a pet baby alligator down the toilet when it gets too large to live in
the house. Although the film has largely been lost to time, it was praised upon
its release for its satirical elements and even spawned a board
game.
The Stuff
Falling more on the science fiction side of horror, 1985's The
Stuff is an engaging satire with plenty of comedic elements. The film focuses
on the marketing of a white substance found bubbling out of the ground as a
sweet, calorie free treat that the public begins to consume like ice cream. As
you might suspect, that's not a great idea. Soon, it's apparent that those who
eat The Stuff are transformed into mindless zombies. The cult
classic features the earliest known film appearances by both Mira Sorvino
and Patrick Dempsey.
While you won't find these films in the list of genre classics, it's worth
probing the back catalog to check out these unique
pieces of horror history. Many will appreciate their amateur acting, obvious monster props, and ridiculous storylines.
Burton and Taylor met on the set of Cleopatra...and the sparks flew on screen and off.
The Huffington Post digs back into the past to unearth some of the more vivid sex scandals involving well known actors and actresses. We're not sure that Barry Williams going on a date with his "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson deserves inclusion, but undoubtedly Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlie Chaplin, Ingrid Bergman and Errol Flynn do. Click here to relive some not-so-glamorous moments in show business history.
The Cinefix web site provides a lengthy analysis of the differences between Stephen King's novel "The Shining" and Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film version, which in this writer's opinion has many merits but is ultimately undermined by the miscasting of Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall. The Cinefix guys provide clips from the film and some very clever graphics in a fast-moving and cynically humorous examination of how the book and film versions depart from each other. - Lee Pfeiffer
Hey, guys, the next time you become intimidated about asking a gorgeous woman for a date, maybe polite chitchat isn't the best strategy. Consider the case of London photographer Ray Bellisario, who had a chance encounter with Brigitte Bardot in 1968. Bellisario was ballsy enough to dispense with polite talk and simply told the legendary sex symbol to "Come with me". To his amazement, she did. Bardot managed to slip away from her handlers and headed to a local pub where Bellisario took some remarkably candid photos of her. Even better for him, she agreed to spend the evening with him in his hotel room. Bellisario refrains from giving any details pertaining to that portion of the "petite affair" but admits that after she kissed him goodbye the following morning, she was gone from his life for good. But Bellisario does have some amazing memories of this unforgettable evening in the form of his photographs which he has now finally gotten around to making public. Click here for more.
It's a debate that has been raging for decades. Did government experiments with atomic bombs in the desert of Utah contribute to the deaths of John Wayne and many other cast and crew members of the 1954 film "The Conqueror"? First some background: the film was produced by Howard Hughes before he became a legendary recluse. It was a big budget production that co-starred Wayne and Susan Hayward and was directed by actor Dick Powell. The film is largely remembered today as a rare instance of Wayne's generally sound instincts betraying him. Somehow Hughes convinced the Duke to play Genghis Khan. The result was as awful as you would imagine and the movie went down as one of the worst casting decisions in Hollywood history, with even Wayne disparaging his appearance in the movie. It may come as a surprise to readers, however, that Wayne and Hughes had the last laugh, at least at the boxoffice. Despite poor reviews, Wayne's popularity was such that "The Conqueror" became a substantial boxoffice hit. That's the end of the good news. Many years after its release, it was noted that a seemingly high proportion of people involved with the movie had died of cancer, most notably Wayne himself in 1979. Rumors began to circulate that the U.S. government's experiments with atomic blasts in the precise area where the film was shot must have contributed to these deaths. The theory was that cast and crew members became contaminated with remaining radioactive fallout. At the time the U.S. was still rather naive about nuclear radiation despite the dropping of two atom bombs on Japan in 1945. The government was exploding A-bombs above ground in desert regions. Years later, this was deemed to be unsafe under any circumstances and future tests were conducted below ground. The Guardian web site has reignited the debate over whether radiation played a part in the deaths of Wayne and his colleagues. This has been examined many times before and the results are always inconclusive. However, conspiracy theories abound, as they always do when high profile people are involved. JFK conspiracy theorists routinely cite a supposedly unnatural number of deaths within a relatively short period of time in regard to various individuals who had some connection to that infamous date in history. But sometimes coincidences do occur and can be a contributing factor. Those who knew Wayne point out that he was an avid smoker and had a lung removed in 1965. His widow Pilar once told this writer that the pressure of starring in and directing his 1960 epic "The Alamo" saw him chain smoking five packs of cigarettes a day, a factor that, in and of itself, would be the most likely contributor to his death from cancer. In any event, this will be a topic long debated. Click here to read and form your own conclusions.
Here is the original trailer from John Ford's epic 1959 Civil War film "The Horse Soldiers". It's one of Ford's most under-rated titles. Even he had bad memories of the film because of the death of a veteran stuntman who imposed upon him to allow him to do a particularly dangerous scene. Ford conceded against his better judgment and the man died. Nevertheless, it's a rousing, exciting and intelligently written story- with a great soundtrack and terrific chemistry between John Wayne and William Holden, who play adversaries even though they are in the same army.
The Huffington Post presents writer Pat Gallagher presents a tribute to her choices as the 12 most memorable sex sirens of yesteryear. From Marilyn Monroe to Raquel Welch and Ursula Andress, click here to check out the article and see if you agree.
One of the greatest achievements in John Wayne's career was his late career performance in director Mark Rydell's 1972 film "The Cowboys". The movie was a major hit for Warner Brothers but as acclaimed screenwriter Josh Olson points out in his analysis of the film on Joe Dante's "Trailers From Hell" web site, the flick never got the critical acclaim it deserved. The Vietnam War was still raging and Wayne's unapologetic support of it didn't sit well with the critical establishment.
Pressbook promotion for appearance by John Wayne at the film's opening at Radio City Music Hall.
In my humble opinion, the Duke was robbed of a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his superb performance as an aging cattleman who is so desperate to get his herd to market that he hires a group of schoolboys as drivers. Along the way, the kids and Wayne experience humor, pathos, death and any number of life lessons, including a tragic confrontation with rustlers led by Bruce Dern, who brings to life one of the great villains in screen history. The film also features a gem of a performance by Roscoe Lee Browne as Wayne's companion and cook for the cattle drive. Both Dern and Browne should have also received Oscar nominations but "The Cowboys" had the misfortune of being released in January of 1972- and had all but faded from Academy member's minds by the time the nominations were being considered a full year later. It was also the same year that "The Godfather" dominated most of the major nominations. Nevertheless, as Josh Olson points out, the film's greatness continues to resonate today. (Oh, and there is a magnificent score by John Williams, as well.) Click here to watch the original trailer with or without Josh Olson's commentary track.
In an informative article for The Daily Beast web site, writer Kevin Fallon looks back at the legacy of the legendary movie musical "The Sound of Music", which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Although the film is widely regarded as a classic today, Fallon points out that initial major press reviews indicated the film was not one of the critic's favorite things. The movie was panned as being syrupy and even absurd, with one critic stating that Captain Von Trapp's revulsion at discovering his children are wearing clothing made from curtains was treated with the same level of crisis as the Nazi annexation of Austria. About the only element of the production to win grudging respect from critics was the lively performance of Julie Andrews. Yet, the film became a boxoffice blockbuster, running for months- and in some cases, years- in the same theaters. It was probably the first major movie to prove to be invulnerable to otherwise overwhelmingly negative reviews. Today, critical consensus is quite different. Everyone would concede the film is saccharine sweet and simplifies, not only the real life story of the Von Trapps, but history itself. Nevertheless, it seems hard to believe that critics of the day were seemingly immune to the greatness of the Rodgers and Hammerstein score, if nothing else. Click here to read.
The Huffington Post provides footage of Leonard Nimoy's big screen debut in the 1951 "B" movie, "Queen For a Day", an adaptation of a popular TV and radio program. Click here to view.
UPDATE: PRESIDENT OBAMA PAYS TRIBUTE TO LEONARD NIMOY. CLICK HERE
There was a time when the drive-in theater was a mainstay of American movie-going. However, the drive-ins got squeezed out of most urban area when the value of real estate skyrocketed. Suddenly it became far more attractive to lease land to a zillion dollar shopping center than to a guy who was showing double features. There are still drive-ins in the United States and they are, as is the case with all vanishing ways of life, highly cherished by retro movie lovers and nostalgia buffs. However, the demise of the drive-in theater craze wasn't entirely due to real estate values. As films became more sophisticated, so did audiences. Who wants to see the newest Star Wars or Bond flick at a venue where the screen was a football field away and the sound came through a tinny speaker inside your car? Adding to the challenge of running a successful drive-in were the new liberties available to filmmakers beginning in the mid-to-late 1960s. As major motion pictures increasingly depicted nudity, drive-in theaters became the focal point of local protests when parents complained that little Jack or little Jill could see those big bad bare bosoms- and worse- on the big screen in color when the family went for an outing. The result was a plethora of lawsuits and legal obstacles. Yet, some drive-ins continued to persevere- even those that switched to showing outright porn exclusively. In an article in the Daily Beast, writer Steve Miller looks back on the rise and fall of drive-ins and the legal challenges they faced. (There still is one drive-in operating in Texas that shows strictly porn, which gives a whole new interpretation to the old saying, "Everything is bigger in Texas!")Click here to read
"I'm a whore. All actors are whores. We sell our bodies to the highest bidder."- William Holden
Cinema Retro columnist Dean Brierly has launched a blog dedicated to memorable quotes from hard-bitten movie actors of days past. The site provides rare insights and observations culled from interviews with the likes of William Holden, Robert Ryan, Barbara Stanwyck, Jan Sterling, Fred MacMurray, Lee Van Cleef and many others. Click here to check it out.
Welch promotes Chelsea on the set of Hannie Caulder.
When you think of legendary British football teams, the image of Raquel Welch doesn't usually come foremost to the mind. However, in 1972 the Hollywood icon attended a Chelsea vs. Leicester City match and- intentionally or naively- managed to upstage the game itself. It was all part of an elaborate PR gimmick devised in part by famed photographer Terry O'Neill who had been photographing Welch on the set of her Western film "Hannie Caulder" (he even got her to pose in a Chelsea kit for some on-set photos.) Whether Welch really understood or gave a hoot about British football teams, the ploy worked and resulted in one of the most memorable games in memory. The Daily Mail relives the big day and presents a series of fascinating photos. Click here to view.
Mitchum in one of his greatest performances, as the murderous preacher in Charles Laughton's "The Night of the Hunter".
In a quixotic quest to act tough, some of today's male movie stars just come across as pathetic. They pepper their sentences with vulgarities and hide behind their Facebook and Twitter accounts to take on their adversaries and make outrageous statements that are far more pretentious than they are provocative. There was a time, however, when Hollywood boasted some real tough guys - and toughest of them all was Robert Mitchum. A biography of him is titled "Baby, I Don't Care" because, well, he really didn't care about his public persona or what studio bosses or critics thought of him. Mitchum was underrated as an actor and never got the recognition he deserved. Part of that was his own fault. He often starred in lackluster films in search of an easy paycheck. But there were plenty of gems, as well. He arguably should have been nominated for Oscars for his performances in films we now regard as classics: "Night of the Hunter", "Cape Fear" and "Farewell, My Lovely". But Mitchum alienated off a lot of the power players in the studio system by refusing to kowtow to their wishes. Even among those who liked him, he was a moody, unpredictable guy to hang around with: charming one minute, menacing the next. Writer Robert Ward got rare access to the star back in 1983 and wrote an extensive and fascinating look at the time he spent with him. The Daily Beast has recently republished the article as a tribute to Mitchum, who died in 1998.
Most "best of" or "worst of" lists are largely valueless because they only reflect the personal opinion of the writer. Nevertheless, they are fun to debate and we're as addicted to them as anyone else. One of the more annoying aspects of such lists, at least as it pertains to movies, is that many younger writers seem to have little frame of reference beyond the films that were released in their lifetimes. Thus, we end up seeing many dubious choices in their "ten best" lists, which might be stuffed with Will Smith or John Hughes movies. An exception is writer Christian Blauvelt who supplies his own list of his ten best movie sequels of all time for the BBC web site. The choices are well-thought out and he makes a cogent argument to include "Pursuit to Algiers", one of the largely unheralded Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes flicks. Way to go, Christian! Click here to read.
The Huffington Post unveils 5 plot holes they claim you never noticed in the original "Star Wars" trilogy. However, we're not naive enough to believe there aren't many scholars of the film who haven't already discovered these. Nonetheless, for those who aren't as well versed in the "Star Wars" universe, this article may be illuminating and amusing. Click here to read.
Joe Dante's "Trailers from Hell" web site features another esteemed director, John Landis, providing commentary and observations about Roger Vadim's wacko 1971 sexploitation/comedy/murder mystery "Pretty Maids All in a Row". Landis points out that MGM was at death's door from a financial standpoint and to stay alive, the studio started grinding out exploitation films that were given a glossier look by the casting of reputable big names in the lead roles. "Pretty Maids" finds Rock Hudson, giving a terrific performance, as a lecherous high school coach who systematically beds seemingly every good looking, under-age female student he comes in contact with. There is no shortage of them, either. Vadim's cinematic wet dream finds every girl to be a sex-crazed, jaw-dropping beauty. That can also describe Angie Dickinson, a cougar teacher with a habit of seducing under-aged male students. Things start to go awry when some of the girls start turning up dead. Telly Savalas is the L.A. police detective assigned to crack the case. The inspired supporting cast includes Roddy McDowell and Keenan Wynn. As Landis observes, the film is outrageously sleazy and politically incorrect and it would be inconceivable for any major studio to even consider releasing it today. (Needless to say, we love it.) However, back in the crazy '70s, both studios and filmmakers were far more daring and far less apologetic about their undertakings on screen. Bizarrely, the film was written and produced by Gene Roddenberry. Go figure.
Click here to view the trailer with or without the Landis commentary.
Don't you hate it when you're at an elegant cocktail party on Park Avenue or in Mayfair, and that inevitable snob arrives who starts informing everyone that he or she knows absolutely everything about "The Brady Bunch"? Like you, it's happened to us dozens of times....But the good news is, we can now provide some facts about the cheesy classic that will allow you to take the air out of that know-it-all's balloon. For example, the actresses who played Cindy and Marcia apparently still can't stand each other in real life (who knew they were "Method" actors?); the exterior of the Brady house was a real home; you never saw a toilet despite all the scenes set in the bathroom and although the show has gained status as a legendary "guilty pleasure", it wasn't a demonstrable hit when if first aired. Click here to read.
"The Addams Family" TV series is now fifty years old. Life magazine covered the casting sessions of the series back in the day and have just published rare photos from those sessions, many of which have never been printed before. The sheer perfection of the final cast indicates the value of those unsung heroes, casting directors. It would be inconceivable to associate other actors with the roles, but it is fascinating to look at images of those who were in contention. By the way, did you know that Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch, also doubled as the disembodied hand known as "Thing"??? Click here to read.
Those were the days, my friend. Consider what was playing in theaters during this one week in 1965: "The Sound of Music" (42 weeks in the same theater!), "The Americanization of Emily", "Thunderball", "Lord Jim", "The Hallelujah Trail", "That Darn Cat", "My Fair Lady" and "Where the Spies Are".
The "Trailers From Hell" web site presents the original theatrical trailer for Roger Corman's adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tomb of Ligeia", yet another of his successful collaborations with sunglass-clad Vincent Price, who seemed to be channeling Roy Orbison. The site's founder, Joe Dante himself, provides the commentary track for the trailer. Click here to listen.
For a brief, shining moment in history the region in and around Almeria, Spain served as the primary for dozens of Italian and other European Westerns during the "Spaghetti Western" craze of the 1960s and 1970s. Spain was often used as stand-in for the American West but the Spaghetti Westerns skyrocketed in popularity with the 1964 release of Sergio Leone's revisionist Western A Fistful of Dollars in 1964, followed by its sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Several years later, Leone would film much of epic Western Once Upon a Time in the West in Almeria's Tabernas Desert. Interest in the genre extended into the mid 1970s when an overabundance of Leone wanna-be directors clogged theater circuits with cheap imitations of his work. Gradually, film location work in the area ground to a halt. In a remarkable photo essay for the Daily Mail, photographer Sarah Orndhorf visited the sites and sets as they appear today. Some are well-preserved tourist attractions while others are deteriorating. Among the other films shot in this region were Lawrence of Arabia, Play Dirty and The Hill. To view click here
Joe Dante's Trailers From Hell site presents the original theatrical trailer for John Huston's "The Man Who Would Be King" starring Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Christopher Plummer. Watch it in its original format or with commentary track by award-winning screenwriter Josh Olson. Click here to view
The date was September 18, 1970 and Dick Cavett, host of his own acclaimed late night chat show, must have felt he had a coup by landing three top actors to appear on that night's broadcast. They were John Cassavetes, Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara- none of whom had the Brando or Sinatra-like reputation of being a "bad boy". The three were making the rounds to promote Cassavetes new directorial effort, the feature film "Husbands". As director, Cassavetes believed in having his actors improvise and say whatever might come into their heads. That strategy should not have carried over into the medium of television, however. In an article for the New Yorker magazine, Dick Cavett recalls how this talented trio turned his show into a nightmare. The actors, who were probably drunk, were as obnoxious as anyone could imagine, pulling juvenile pranks and being as rude as possible to Cavett and his audience. Nervous, jittery laughter turned into outrage on the part of the audience and viewers at home. Click here for Cavett's recollections and to view the infamous episode.
Linda Lovelace, star of the first mainstream porn flick, Deep Throat.
Rolling Stone presents an interesting slide show photo presentation of 8 notorious porn stars whose careers were affected for better or worse by some scandal that made national news. Click here to read.
Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run was pivotal in launching his career as a credible actor and leading man. Although considered a comedy classic today, the 1969 film actually lost money at the time of its release.
By Brian Hannan
All you need is top stars and top directors and
making movies is easy. Surely you couldn’t miss with a line-up that included
Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman, Lee Marvin, Omar
Sharif, and directors of the calibre of Robert Aldrich (hot after The Dirty Dozen), John Boorman (Point Blank) and Woody Allen. Or so ABC
must have thought when it set up a movie division in the late 1960s. Delving
into the archives recently, I discovered that Sam Peckinpah’s rodeo picture Junior Bonner (1972) starring Steve
McQueen was a box office stinkeroo. The picture lost $2.8m (about $15m in
today’s money). Not just on domestic release, but worldwide.
The movie was made by ABC in a disastrous five-year
foray into the movie business and McQueen was not alone in being on the
receiving end of a lot of red ink. The Sean Connery-Brigitte Bardot western Shalako (1968) directed by the veteran
Edward Dymytryk (The Carpetbaggers, The
Young Lions) was another loser - $1.25m
down the drain. At least Peckinpah redeemed himself with Straw Dogs (1973) starring Hoffman which ponied up $1.45m in
profits. Lee Marvin in John Boorman’s war film Hell in the Pacific (1968) dug a box office foxhole so deep it
buried a loss of $4.1m. But the biggest loser was Michael Caine. War picture Too Late the Hero (1970), directed by
Robert Aldrich and equally set in the Pacific, kissed goodbye to a colossal
$6.7m. And that was not the worst of it for Caine. The Last
Valley (1971), a historical drama set in the One Hundred Years War in
medieval Europe, written and directed by James Clavell (writer of Tai Pan and director of To Sir with Love) and co-starring Omar
Sharif, tanked to the tune of $7.1. Aldrich had little luck with ABC – his
lesbian drama The Killing of Sister
George (1968) starring Susannah York lost $750,000 and kidnap thriller The Grissom Gang (1971) another $3m.
The Oscar-nominated They Shoot Horses, Don’t They that restored Jane Fonda’s acting
credibility was $1.2m shy of break-even. Even Woody Allen’s magic touch
deserted him – Take the Money and Run
(1969) in the hole for $610,000. Check out the resume of Exorcist author and Exorcist
III director William Peter Blatty and you won’t find mention of Mastermind, starring Zero Mostel. At one
point it was set for a May 1970 release, but never saw the light of day. All
told ABC lost $47m before it threw in the towel.
Brian Hannan is the author of The Making of the Guns of Navarone (Baroliant Press).
UPDATE: The information contained in this article was derived from a 1973 article in Variety. It should be pointed out that the grosses cited for Shalako were U.S. only. Producer Euan Lloyd had different film companies buy the rights to release the film in various countries. ABC controlled the American rights. Also, funding for the film would not have come strictly from ABC. Lloyd would finance his productions by pre-selling them to various international territories, so ABC would not have funded the entire cost of the film. As the production was said to have done considerable business in the international market, it may well be that it was a profitable venture.
One of our loyal subscribers, Rodney Barnett, has his own addictive retro movie blog, Bloody Pit of Rod. He's located some cool, cheesy 1970s original ads for a line of Planet of the Apes toys. We especially love the "Forbidden Zone Trap"! Click here to view.
The toy image above comes from Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive, a super cool site dedicated to everything "Apish". Click here to visit.
Some of the international movie posters presented in Cinema Retro issue #28, which features in-depth coverage of the making of Zulu.
By Brian Hannan
The 50th
anniversary showing of Zulu in Britain next month is unlikely to be
repeated in the U.S. where the film flopped. But even the poorest box-office performer has an afterlife. So in 1965 Zulu was pushed out again anywhere that
would have it. That meant it supported some odd, not to say ugly, bedfellows –
exploitationer Taboos of the World in
Kansas City, The Three Stooges in The
Outlaws Is Coming in Phoenix, B
western Stage To Thunder Rock in Long Beach, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini in Des Moines and Rhino in Abilene. They liked it in Long Beach where it supported both
Circus World and That Man from Rio. It was the second feature to None But the Brave in Provo, Utah, and to
two more successful Joe E. Levine movies, Yesterday,
Today and Tomorrow in Ironwood, Michigan, and Marriage, Italian Style in Corpus Christi, Texas. Triple bills
being a staple of drive-ins, it was seen with Viva Las Vegas and Beach
Party in Tucson.
But it was not just support
meat. Almost a year after its release, it topped the bill in Helena, Montana,
with Robert Mitchum in Man in the Middle
as support. In Chester it was the main attraction with Homicidal in support. In Weimar, Texas, it was supported by Tarzan the Magnificent and in Bridgeport
by First Men on the Moon. At the
Cecil theatre in Mason City, Iowa, it played on its own, as it did in Colorado
Springs where it was advertised as “in the great tradition of Beau Geste†(supply your own exclamation
marks.)
But it was not done yet.
Exhibitors in San Mateo had a soft spot for Zulu in 1966. It played there seven
times, as support to The Great Race, Marlon Brando western Appaloosa, Fantastic Voyage
(in two theaters), What’s Up Tiger Lily?, The Leather
Boys and Lawrence of Arabia.
Abilene brought it back twice, for a re-match with Rhino and then in a double bill with Kimberley Jim starring singer Jim Reeves when it was promoted as “a
true story of the Zulu tribe.†Fremont cinemas also ran in twice – with Return of the Seven and Fantastic Voyage. In Troy and Bennington
it rode shotgun with Elvis in Harum
Scarum. In Charleston it supported Arabesque,
in Winona The Second Best Secret Agent and in Long Beach What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
The highlight of 1967 had to
be a double bill with The Daleks (Dr Who and the Daleks) in Delaware, or
perhaps the teaming with Batman in
Cumberland, Maryland, or El Cid in
Ottawa. Zulu returned twice to
Fremont to support Africa Addio and John
Sturges’ Hour of the Gun. In Modesto
it played with Where The Spies Are.
In Long Beach it was put on at a pop concert where the headline act was
Organized Confusion (anybody remember them?). These three years of repeated
showings hardly counted as a proper reissue, but it did cast an interesting
light on what may – or may not – have turned into something of a cult film. In
Britain, where it was a smash hit, it was reissued on the ABC circuit in 1967
and 1972/
Brian Hannan is the author
of the forthcoming The Reissue Bible.
Joe Dante's Trailers From Hell site presents the original theatrical trailer for John Boorman's classic 1972 screen adaptation of James Dickey's "Deliverance" starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds and Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty, both in their feature film debuts. The trailer includes commentary by film director Neil Labute. Click here to view Click here for Cinema Retro's review of the Blu-ray 40th anniversary release.
Joe Dante's Trailers From Hell presents the teaser trailer for Paint Your Wagon, the 1969 mega flop musical starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg. This is yet another epic film that has judged by its boxoffice results instead of its artistic merits. Fortunately, Alan Spencer provides a good introduction and narration to the trailer and points out the film's attributes. The downside is that this teaser trailer itself runs only one minute but Spencer provides plenty of insightful facts into his commentary. Click here to view
The web site Do You Remember? pays tribute to the great James Cagney and his Irish roots through some terrific film clips on this St. Patrick's Day. Click here to view
The addictive pop culture blog Hill Place presents an impassioned defense of Tina Louise as Ginger over Dawn Wells as Mary Ann on the Gilligan's Island TV sitcom. Retro TV lovers have long been debating who was the hottest chick on the isle: sweet but sexy "good girl Mary Ann or "bad girl" diva Ginger. It's amazing how compelling this article actually is, as it delves into the behind-the-scenes rivalry between the two actresses. Click here to read
